Your First Deer — What Do You Remember Most?

C

Caleb Foster

Joined
Sep 17, 2025
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Hey everyone,
I was thinking back to my first deer the other day, and it still feels like it just happened. I can remember the adrenaline, the shaky hands, and that mix of excitement and nerves right before the shot. It’s funny how no matter how many hunts you’ve been on since, that first one always sticks with you.


For me, it wasn’t even about the size of the deer — it was about the experience. The early morning, the cold air, and realizing how much work and patience it really takes to make it happen.


So I’m curious — what do you remember most about your first deer?
Was it a clean shot? A long track job? Maybe just the moment you realized you finally did it?


Would love to hear everyone’s stories — those first hunts are what hook most of us for life.


Good luck this season, and stay safe out there!
 
My first deer was early one morning, up in my climber, with my recurve bow. A nice medium size buck came down the trail and passed behind me, giving me a chance to turn and get ready for him to come out the other side. A quartering away shot, I remember thinking this is it, everything you’ve been waiting for, a perfect set up, don’t blow it. So nervous, but I had been practicing a lot so still confident. What i remember most is loosing the arrow, and seeing just the white nock move toward him in slow motion and then just vanish. He hunched a bit and took off. I knew it was a good hit and to wait and not follow right away.

Some minutes later I heard a crunch off in the distance and my heart sagged a little, thinking I had a long track pending, so I took a chance and decided to get down and look for any signs of a blood trail to get things started. And oh there was. The shot was a pass-through, and the arrow was on the ground about 6 feet off the trail, covered in bright red blood and goo. I followed the blood trail up a small rise and about 20 yards away, there he was, all done, piled up at the bottom of tree in some bushes.

Field dressing him (with a Ka-bar shorty if you can believe that. It worked just fine BTW) i saw his heart had a short slice one one side,. Later I was told that was probably why he hunched like that, a common reaction to a heart shot.

I remember it all just like it was yesterday. 18 paces from the base of the tree.
 
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